To the North of the Crimson Lake, the fertile meadows of the Imperial Heartlands give way to cold and rugged wastes and long ranges of forbidding mountains. Traditionally this unwelcoming land was the territory of the once mighty Kingdom of Oranda, which was completely obliterated after the War of the Broken Lilies. Nowadays it is split in two political entities : the West is known as Imperial Oranda or the Narugami Province, and it is firmly in the Empress' grasp. To the East, however, fallen Orandan officials banded together with the rebellious Clan Kaeda to create a mighty Shogunate that blends Imperial and Orandan cultures and plots to overthrow the Empire...
The area is heavily fortified. Oranda is home to many quarries and mines, worked by slaves usually taken from the Empire but also from Oranda's own populace, who themselves are second-tier citizens to Clan Kaeda officials. Its many watchtowers along the border do not simply prevent the Empire from reclaiming the land : they prevent citizens of Oranda from fleeing their homeland. Kitsune and Tengu are especially targeted, with most Tengu having long ended up killed or enslaved in work camps. Because Oranda is so isolated, there is not enough food for everyone, and Clan Kaeda takes the lion's share, leaving a starving populace unable to defend themselves and dying off in mines. In the Narugami Province, walls and watchtowers protect the Empire from the evil Orandan influence, and watch over desolate, wind-swept wastes known as the Earthkin Wastes - and the precious mithril mines there.
By all means Oranda are a menace to the Empire, but also to the native population, seen as culturally inferior by the Kaeda invaders. If a war must break out in the Empire again, it will probably be in the North.
The weather is cold and usually rainy, with snow covering the ground at least four months a year. There are few villages in Oranda and Narugami, and there is a significant Kitsune population that roams the Wastes and live as nomads and barbarians. Narugami is the only town with enough importance to be known across the Empire; most bigger settlements are in fact the size of large, walled-off villages.
Points of Interests
Towns & Settlements :
Geographical Features :
The area is heavily fortified. Oranda is home to many quarries and mines, worked by slaves usually taken from the Empire but also from Oranda's own populace, who themselves are second-tier citizens to Clan Kaeda officials. Its many watchtowers along the border do not simply prevent the Empire from reclaiming the land : they prevent citizens of Oranda from fleeing their homeland. Kitsune and Tengu are especially targeted, with most Tengu having long ended up killed or enslaved in work camps. Because Oranda is so isolated, there is not enough food for everyone, and Clan Kaeda takes the lion's share, leaving a starving populace unable to defend themselves and dying off in mines. In the Narugami Province, walls and watchtowers protect the Empire from the evil Orandan influence, and watch over desolate, wind-swept wastes known as the Earthkin Wastes - and the precious mithril mines there.
By all means Oranda are a menace to the Empire, but also to the native population, seen as culturally inferior by the Kaeda invaders. If a war must break out in the Empire again, it will probably be in the North.
The weather is cold and usually rainy, with snow covering the ground at least four months a year. There are few villages in Oranda and Narugami, and there is a significant Kitsune population that roams the Wastes and live as nomads and barbarians. Narugami is the only town with enough importance to be known across the Empire; most bigger settlements are in fact the size of large, walled-off villages.
Points of Interests
Towns & Settlements :
- Narugami : Narugami is an Imperial occupied town located in the middle of the Macalania Forest. The forest provided ample defence for the Orandan defenders, coupled with a giant magic shield; when the shield fell, however, Imperial armies plowed through the Orandan army and claimed the city. It is an austere city built of stone and dark wood, and it is known for its bonfires in the main squares. It is the only big town in the whole area with a population of about 30.000 inhabitants.
- Takeshi : Takeshi is the former capital of the Orandans, and today it is the seat of power of occupied Oranda and of Clan Kaeda. Takeshi is a forbidding city surrounded by high walls which expand into the sea. Its 20.000 inhabitants are also separated in the city's wards depending on whether they are Clan Kaeda loyalists, members of the Orandan meddling class, Orandan lower-class natives, and Tengu.
Geographical Features :
- Earthkin Wastes : Across the Imperial part of Oranda, massive mountains and glaciers make life in the Earthkin Wastes very difficult. It is a frozen wasteland, with yetis and other wild beasts roaming about. There are no roads or villages; the only inhabitants are barbarians, Ton'keena mithril miners, as well as one particular tribe of Earthkin Kitsune, the Wanderers, who designated the mountain range theirs, giving the area its name, though they do not maintain any permanent settlement.
- Mikata Range : The Mikata Range is a small mountain range rich in precious metals. Clan Kaeda keeps up several slave mines all across the range - most trade with Oranda is paid in precious and rare minerals. However, one thing Clan Kaeda does not have are mithril mines, leading to massive expeditions across the range in hopes to find some.
- Odogawa : The River Odo is a large river that flows across Oranda. It is mostly known to strangers and Imperials as a haunted place of punishment. Orandan political enemies are tied to trunks and thrown into the river, most usually drowning or freezing to their deaths.